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<h1>Shape geometry dialog</h1>

<p>The shape geometry dialog is part of the <a href="shapeProperties.htm">shape properties</a>. The dialog allows you to view a geometry associated with a <a href="shapes.htm">shape</a>, and to modify it to a certain extent. It displays the number of vertices and triangles, and the size of the <a href="shapeReferenceFrames.htm">shape's bounding box</a>. The number of vertices and triangles of a mesh is directly linked to the rendering and calculation times (e.g. during <a href="collisionDetection.htm">collision detection</a> or <a href="distanceCalculation.htm">distance calculation</a>), and the more vertices/triangles a mesh has, the slower the simulation or scene display will be. While the <a href="commonPropertiesDialog.htm">object common properties</a> allows to scale <a href="objects.htm">objects</a> (including shapes), it however keeps proportions same at all times (the scaling along an object's x-, y- or z-axis is same). This restriction doesn't apply in the geometry dialog, and you can even flip a mesh along one of its axes by specifying a negative scaling factor. Remember however that some <a href="shapes.htm">pure simple shapes</a> and <a href="shapes.htm">pure compound shapes</a> have restrictions regarding non-uniform scaling. On top of that, pure shapes cannot be flipped. </p>

<p>Additionally, the shape geometry dialog lets you modify a <a href="shapeReferenceFrames.htm">shape's bounding box orientation</a>. This should only be used in very special cases. A preferred method to modify a shape's bounding box orientation is to select [Menu bar --&gt; Edit --&gt; Bounding box alignment --&gt; Align selected shape's coordinate frame with main axis] or [Menu bar --&gt; Edit --&gt; Bounding box alignment --&gt; Align selected shape's coordinate frame with world] while a shape is selected.<br>
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<p align=center><img src="images/geometryDialog.jpg"></p>
<p class=imageLabel>[Shape geometry dialog]</p>


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